By-The-Book Lovers
by ButterMyButtAndCallMeABiscuit
Summary: Romance: a feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love. If only it were that easy for Spencer Reid. Foul language.


Prentiss stared at her phone under the blanket.

_DispenserOfProvisions is calling you on Skype._

She was barely awake. Why was he video-chatting her at three in the fucking morning? She considered just creeping into his hotel room, but Emily just answers and closes one eye, trying to get some sleep while talking to him. Being semi-conscious, this seemed highly plausible.

"What?" She grumbles.

Reid scoffs on the camera."Well, hello there. You look happy."

"Thanks." Prentiss rolls her eyes, both open."What do you want?"

Faking shock, Spencer drops his jaw."How _rude_! The Ambassador would be taken aback."

Prentiss squints into the brightness of her screen."I'm not talking to her, I'm talking to you. Big difference."

Reid laughs at her irritation. She hated when he laughed at her being irritated, but she loved it when he laughed. She remembered when she first joined the bureau, and when he was struggling with his addiction...she had never heard that laugh. If anything, it was the exact opposite. His voice always was drenched with disdain and wickedness and something she didn't see on her screen right now. Emily could tell he was trying hard to pretend he was wide awake, but the bags under his eyes and his slow, drowsy blinking said otherwise.

"Never speak in such a tone, woman!" He says, sensing her noticing his tiredness. He brightens his smile."My ears cannot withstand the sound of such _malice, _coming from a voice that can make the deaf cured by their own spirit, just from watching your lips form the words, to hear you!"

"If I could cure the deaf, I wouldn't be in a shitty hotel in the nowhere of Louisiana right now..." She hisses.

"Emmmmm," he whines."I'm trying to be more romantic!"

"Spence, yeah, I said that would be nice, but I don't mean at three in the morning...I mean..._any other time._"

"...how about four?"

"No."

"Five?"

"No."

"Five thirty?"

"_No._"

"When?"

"Not now, maybe!?"

"Okay, so I'll set an alarm. At eight-thirty, I'll call you back and be romantic." He grins on-screen.

Prentiss sighs."Spence..."

"Eight-thirty _is_ kind of early. When's a good time for you?"

The worst part was, he sounded completely serious. He was actually cross-legged in front of his laptop with his planner and a pen in his hand, glasses on. He stares intensely at the screen, awaiting her answer like a dog waiting for his treat.

"Spencer..." She sighs, laughing slightly."Honey..."

"What? Nine, maybe?" He says, already scribbling down furiously."Nine through nine fifteen?"

Prentiss laughs again, this time a bit louder. This was the only thing that could make her stay up this long after a deep sleep; seeing or hearing him. She found that when he wasn't with them, she was never attentive or "on it" like she usually was.

"Please don't laugh," he says, pouting.

Once she heard his tone and saw his downward-curved lips, she dries her laughter-induced tears."Oh, baby, I'm sorry...I didn't mean to laugh."

He still looked dejected and she immediately felt bad. She didn't mean to laugh."I-it's okay..."

Prentiss felt her own smile fade, and, studying his face, she realized he thought she was taking him for a joke, or some kind of toy to play with."Spencer, I'm sorry. I am."

"No, no, it's...it's fine..." He smiles, that "I'm okay" smile, which she knew meant he was not okay. When he was okay, he didn't try so hard to let her know he was okay.

"Hey, can I-can I come get in bed with you?" She squeaks. She had finally drifted away just an hour or two before he called her on video chat, and she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep well knowing he was bothered.

"Em, you don't have to. And I'm sorry I woke you up," he says, tossing his planner aside."Go ahead and get some rest."

Prentiss says quickly,"But I'm not doing it because I feel like I have to. I want to. I need to."

Reid shrugs, still noticeably upset."Okay. You have a copy of my card."

"Okay," Emily says softly. She wanted to apologize, but before she could, he ended the call. She flinches. She wasn't even thinking. She laughed in his face (well, not literally) when he was trying to make her happy. She quickly pulls on some socks and shorts, after sleeping in a t-shirt and panties, and slips into the hallway with her keycard, as well as his.

Quietly unlocking his door with a swipe of her card, she climbs in his bed. He pretended to be asleep, arranging his breathing patterns to maintain the illusion.

"Spencer, I know you're awake," she sighs.

He grunts in response, not turning to face her. He was definitely mad, and she didn't want to have a big blow-up like they did once or twice before. She wouldn't think before she spoke, and he would say he was okay, and then she would keep saying he wasn't, and then he would get angry because she kept pushing all the wrong buttons and it felt like she was talking to an unsub, and then she got angry as well, and started yelling about how she doesn't understand why he couldn't just open his mouth and tell her what the fuck was wrong, and then it was just them, spiraling into fury.

"What's going on in your head, Spence?" She whispers, kissing his bare shoulder. He wasn't shirtless in the camera, and she glanced around the room to see his shirt on the chair. He got hot when he was upset.

"So that's what you came here for? Sex?" He scoffed, shaking his head.

"God, Spencer, I just want to fucking lay with you! That's all!" She says, nearly screaming.

Reid hisses,"That can't be it!"

"Why not? Huh?"

"Because there's a motive here, I just know it!"

Prentiss pulled him so that he was facing her."Why do you always have to think there's someone against you? Huh?! Why can't I just be _with _you, on your _side?_ Fuck, I just don't understand it!" She grabs his cheeks, almost crying. She wasn't sure if she was angry or sad."I know I say stupid things, okay?! And I'm sorry! I said sorry, what else do you want me to say?! If you wanted me to jump off the Eiffel Tower just for you to say you're not mad, even if you didn't mean it, I would! I'd donate every one of my limbs, Spencer. I'll jump, but...you just have to tell me how high."

Reid tried not to meet her eyes, but ended up doing so, studying her thoroughly. She looked so honest."Emily, I'm sorry. Sometimes I just act this way because...I feel like...just like all the other girls...you don't take me seriously."

"That's why they're girls, Spencer. But, me? I'm a woman who can understand that you're the greatest catch that anyone could have," she says.

Reid smiles softly, and she runs her thumb over his lip."R-right."

"And you always talk to me when you feel like this, Spencer, because I want to reassure you that...that I love you," she says, scooting a little bit closer to test her boundaries. She breathes a small sigh of relief when he pulls her even closer, their legs intertwining.

"So...how does nine-thirty feel? Good romantic time?" Reid says, and Prentiss searched his face for any sign of a joke. When she realized there wasn't, she smiles.

"That sounds perfect, Spencer."

**AN: So, I watched The Fucking Notebook.**

**Still puking and dry heaving. Laying in the fucking street, honestly...**

**So this struck up a conversation between me and my friend about romance, and how dumb it is. At least, I thought it was. My friend is a hopeless romantic, and, therefore, believed romance is an open-ended subject, it can be different for everybody!**

**Y'know...like when shit is different from other pieces of shit. Sorta how romance works.**

**My friend, also a complete bitch, claims I once said before I'm open to all kinds of things, and that I lied.**

**Well, here's to you, Maya. I wrote this fluff proudly, you self-absorbed entitled cunt.**

**And T for Emily's language...and mine. **


End file.
